Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Takes Position in UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 871 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $149,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNF. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,133,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $24,576,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UniFirst by 148.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 76,742 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $13,130,000 after acquiring an additional 45,850 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,461,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of UniFirst during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of UniFirst from $194.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $152.00 target price (down previously from $180.00) on shares of UniFirst in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of UniFirst from $218.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.00.

UniFirst Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE UNF opened at $186.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.87. UniFirst Co. has a fifty-two week low of $149.58 and a fifty-two week high of $243.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.99.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 2nd. The textile maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.81 million. UniFirst had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UniFirst Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UniFirst Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. UniFirst’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.41%.

UniFirst declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to repurchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Martin Katz sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.95, for a total transaction of $274,024.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,682.25. This represents a 16.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About UniFirst

UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.